Acknowledgments

There are many people without whom, and influences without which this book would neither have been conceived of nor published: the GPCH and North Brooklyn community offered a window; Tiny Mix Tapes’ Marvin Lin provided space to test early ideas; readers’ feedback validated intuition of this project’s potential; Mollie Glick and David Hirschman helped workshop the book proposal; interviewees trusted me with their words and provided heart and soul to these pages; the generous participation of Kyp, Ira and Craig was especially critical and appreciated; Connie Rosenblum and James Ledbetter helped me secure those all important clips; the indomitable William Clark of William Clark Associates took on an unknown client and shepherded me through a treacherous process; and John Oakes of OR Books and Henry Rosenbloom of Scribe risked working with an unproven first-time author. To all of the above I am eternally grateful.

Thank you: to my parents and siblings for their bottomless love and support; to family, friends and educators who have guided and/or humored me throughout the years; to the Shorewood School District and the University of Minnesota; to Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Hazleton, Lanesboro and New York City; and especially to my beautiful wife, who shouldered the stresses and risks of this project with grace and grit, and with whom I share its achievement. Love to all.